Quebec doesn’t want a separation referendum at the moment, but had enough of a multi-party electoral logjam that the Parti Québécois won a minority government.
asserted
Québécois → want → government
The Globe and Mail delivered reporting which included motley Albertan separatists offering up the province’s oil and water reserves in meetings with American officials.
asserted
separatists → deliver → officials
Even Alberta Premier Danielle Smith didn’t like that idea.
asserted
Smith → like → idea
Selling out the country is not, as it turns out, a popular position.
asserted
it → sell → country
And to Canada’s rescue came Elon Musk: the richest man in the world, the man whose destruction of USAID could potentially lead to as many as 14 million global deaths by 2030, and a man with a very large microphone.
uncertain
destruction → come → microphone
He bought Twitter in 2022 and renamed it X in what seemed like a fit of debauched, over-leveraged pique, and has turned it into a brain-warping engine for right-wing gunk, among other things.
asserted
what → buy → things
And Wednesday, Musk used his tool to push his agenda.
asserted
Musk → use → agenda
The gambling company Polymarket tweets news without attribution as a means of juicing engagement with the brand, and wrote, “JUST IN: Quebec’s new premier declares his dream of Québécois independence ‘will be realized one day.’ ”
asserted
dream → tweet → independence
Musk, who has some 240 million followers, replied, “Good.
asserted
who → have → followers
Quebec should separate.”
asserted
Quebec → separate → ?
He added, “They would be better off.
asserted
They → add → ?
Alberta and Saskatchewan should separate too.”
asserted
Alberta → separate → ?
Some of the more prominent Alberta separatists replied, along others: organizer David Parker, Twitter influencer Martyupnorth, anti-trans activist Chris Elston.
asserted
Some → reply → others
The occasional Quebecois replied, too.
asserted
Quebecois → reply → ?
Smith did her usual unconvincing federalist dance in response; to his credit, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe simply said, ”No.”
asserted
Moe → do → credit
Look, it’s easy to make fun of Alberta separatists.
asserted
it → look → separatists
Some of them are caught up in potential legal trouble, or mind-boggling alleged financial boondoggles.
asserted
Some → catch → trouble
As the Star’s Richard Warnica chronicled, they are often terrifyingly deluded.
asserted
they → chronicle → ?
And based on all available public polling, they are going to lose.
asserted
they → base → polling
And Quebec’s new government, meanwhile, has pledged not to hold a sovereignty referendum — which they would almost certainly lose — while U.S. President Donald Trump remains in office.
asserted
Trump → pledge → office
Which is comforting enough, until you remember that they reportedly approached the Trump administration for talks during the campaign.
uncertain
they → remember → campaign
So thank goodness for Musk’s signal, because it both illuminates the stakes and helps influence them.
asserted
it → thank → them
Musk has endorsed both Germany’s far-right AfD and the National Rally in France, both of which have links to Russian money; he pushed the far-right Reform party in the U.K. until they allegedly weren’t quite radical enough for him in relation to Tommy Robinson’s vicious anti-immigrant movement, which has included Canadian Ezra Levant, who runs the far-right website Rebel News.
uncertain
who → endorse → website
Musk prefers Restore Britain now, and retweeted Levant the other day.
asserted
Musk → prefer → Levant
Musk likes them.
asserted
Musk → like → them
Milei and Musk both brandished chainsaws on stage.
asserted
Milei → brandish → stage
The rise of the far right is fuelled by a scapegoating of the other, a parallel universe of exaggerated or imagined grievance, and a deep distrust of the state.
asserted
rise → fuel → state
It is also being encouraged by Trump’s State Department, which has changed its focus from democracy and human rights to far-right causes which encourage the reverse.
asserted
which → encourage → reverse
This is a war on democracy, using its tools, and Canada’s democratic immune system has worked as intended, so far.
asserted
system → use → tools
As a nation, Canada trusted government advice on vaccines and public safety, writ large; the election of Mark Carney was a clear signal that this moment in history required a certain seriousness of purpose in the face of Trump.
asserted
moment → trust → Trump
It’s an awful lot to entrust to one man, a country.
asserted
It → ’ → man
But electing Pierre Poilievre with what was then a rather Trump-friendly Conservative base — that CPC Trump support has eroded, thankfully — would have been a disaster.
asserted
support → elect → that
Musk, meanwhile, is widely loathed here.
asserted
Musk → loathe → ?
An Angus Reid poll last year showed 79 per cent of Canadians viewed him negatively, including a whopping 84 per cent of Quebecers; even among Conservative voters, Musk’s favourability was only 34 per cent.
asserted
favourability → show → voters
The only person more likely to inflame Canadian patriotism is Trump, who gave Musk the National Medal of Science on Thursday.
asserted
who → inflame → Thursday
We should, however, give a moment to ponder the stakes, and why Canadians have responded the way we have.
asserted
we → give → stakes
Trump’s brute imperialism aims for control of oil and the Western Hemisphere, at the minimum, and Alberta has both.
asserted
Alberta → aim → both
Foreign interference abounds.
asserted
interference → abound → ?
The convoy’s march on Ottawa was the impetus for talk in American right-wing circles about invading Canada in order to save it, in 2023.
asserted
march → invade → 2023
Both Trump and Musk are trying to push far-right policies that are cancerous for the human soul.
asserted
that → try → soul
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
